During Callum’s examination, he used a detection device to see if the horse was chipped. The healthier Maggie became, the more it was becoming evident that she was from top-quality stock.
It turned out she had a chip embedded under her skin, and when Callum had called in the identification number all hell broke out. It turned out Maggie was originally from the Crazy Angle.
Adam was still swearing while Graham called Ryan. A half hour later Ryan called back with the answers they needed. It turned out Graham sold Maggie as a filly to a neighboring ranch owned by Arnold Schulky.
Ryan dug deep into Arnold’s recent activities and found out Schulky bought the old Much farm a few months ago. This surprised Callum, because through the gossip grapevine he’d heard Schulky was hurting for money, and his ranch was in trouble.
Graham called the Schulky ranch to see if Arnold was home. His wife told them she thought he was over at the Much ranch.
“Do you have a plan, Graham?” Adam asked.
“I want to know why he bought a filly from me only to dump it back on my ranch. He knows that I have a buyback policy, no questions asked.” Graham glanced over at Callum and Adam. “If what you think is true, I want you both to keep your tempers. It’ll be you two who will end up in jail if it gets physical.”
Callum nodded. He wasn’t happy about it, but Graham was the boss.
Graham turned the truck into the old Much farm’s driveway. In daylight, Callum’s suspicions of what he saw in the darkness of the other night were clarified. All the old buildings had extensive repairs made to them. A new large metal building stood toward the back of the other buildings. Callum caught a glimpse of a corral behind the metal building. He was sure he saw some mares with foals in that corral. There was another corral on the side of the building. If he wasn’t mistaken, a quarter horse stallion stood in the center of that corral.
As they pulled up and parked next to a couple of other trucks, Arnold Schulky walked out the side door of the house carrying something. The older man was dressed in the usual cowboy attire of worn jeans, button-down shirt accompanied by cowboy boots, and hat. Instead of a belt he wore suspenders to hold his jeans up around his big belly. Callum saw the second Schulky spotted them. The man didn’t outright stop, but his step hesitated, and he moved whatever he was holding in his hand behind his back.
By the time the three men left the truck, Schulky had reached them. Graham shook hands and greeted Schulky with a nod, “Arnold.”
Schulky nodded at Adam, then Callum, before asking, “What brings you here, Graham?”
Keeping an ear on the conversation, Callum looked around. The farmhouse seemed to have someone living in it. Through the windows, he saw furniture and a coat hanging on an old-fashioned coat tree. Callum’s gaze swept over the yard. He noted some of the older buildings had their roofs patched, and outer wall boards replaced.
Movement caught his eye, and Callum watched the door of the new building open to reveal a short, wiry cowboy. When the guy saw them, he quickly turned around and disappeared back into the building.
Schulky’s angry voice brought Callum’s attention back to the conversation.
“What do you mean you found one of my horses in your field? That’s impossible,” the heavy man sputtered.
“It was a filly I sold you three years ago. You know I chip my animals, there’s no mistake, Arnold,” Graham said.
“That horse died last year from colic,” Schulky retorted. Red crept up his neck and spread across his face. Callum thought there should be a huge sign on his forehead that read, “Liar.”
“Why didn’t you let me know that she died?” Graham asked. His back was stiff, and Callum could see his boss wasn’t buying any of Schulky’s lies.
“Look, she was my horse. I bought and paid for her. I don’t owe you anything,” Schulky blustered. Sweat now covered the man’s face. “I think you need to leave.”
Adam stepped up in front of Schulky towering over him. Schulky stepped back, and that was when Callum saw what he had in his hand. For one second all Callum saw was red. The next instant he had the front of Schulky’s shirt bunched in his hands.
“You’re running a fuckin’ collection farm,” he accused, putting his face inches from Schulky’s.
Graham and Adam grabbed Callum’s shoulders. “Let him go, Callum,” Graham ordered.
Callum lowered the man down to his feet and reluctantly stepped away.. Schulky made a big deal of fixing his shirt while stupidly waving the urine collection device around like a red flag. Graham’s firm hand on Callum’s arm was the only thing that stopped him from going after Schulky again.
After Schulky had put his clothes back in order, he pointed a finger at Callum and said, “I’ve done nothing illegal. I have all the permits needed.”
“It’s illegal dumping horses on other people’s property,” Graham pointed out.
“I sent that mare to the slaughter house. I have the paperwork to prove it,” Schulky retorted.
Callum clutched his hand into a fist in frustration. “Why?” he asked. “Why would you let such an expensive top quality animal get into that kind of shape?”
“Don’t you get all high and mighty with me.” Schulky took a step forward, anger twisting his face into a lurid mask. “Trying to raise horses and keep the ranch afloat in this economy is almost impossible. I don’t have the luxury of having all kinds of money lying around like your boss does. Setting up this farm was the only chance I had at getting out of debt. There are big bucks to be made.”
“Yeah right. It isn’t the economy that has you in trouble, it’s all those women you run around with and that gambling problem you have,” Adam said critically.
“Get off my land before I call the sheriff,” Schulky yelled.
“Let’s go,” Graham said in disgust.
The ride back to the Crazy Angle was quiet. Callum was pissed off and his mind was racing searching for a way to shut the collection farm down. It was only his opinion, but Texas didn’t need any of those hellholes.
Back at the Crazy Angle, Graham ordered, “Office, now.”
For the next hour, Graham, Tyler, Adam, Callum, and Ryan discussed the whole urine collection farm situation. To Callum, it seemed like they were getting nowhere fast.
“The problem is that it’s not illegal,” Graham said. “And there are a lot of people who don’t have any problem with it. I also have to consider the Crazy Angle and all of its employees. Violence happens when you try to get between people and vast amounts of money.”
“I’ve never been one to shy away from a fight,” Adam said.
“And neither have I,” Graham responded. “But would you risk Elliot? Zaiden spends a lot of time alone in the back fields working the land. Someone with a rifle could take him out, and there’s a good chance we wouldn’t discover him for hours.”
“Shit.” Adam leaned back in his chair bringing the front legs off the floor and looked out the window.
“I have an idea.”
Every eye in the room centered on Ryan. He had been quiet up until now, and Callum was curious what his cutie had to say.
“What’s your idea, Ryan?” Graham asked.
Ryan looked down at his hands for a moment, and Callum put his arm along the back of his chair. Those mismatched eyes gazed up at him, and Callum was astounded. He had been prepared to comfort his nervous lover and give him his support. Instead, Ryan’s face was full of pure mischief. “I have an application on my phone that I can use, so the person I’m calling doesn’t know it’s me,” Ryan explained. “I’m thinking if I make a few anonymous phone calls to a few certain animal rights organizations, they might decide to check the collection farm out. It sure would cause a lot of unwanted attention for Schulky. And the way I figure it, the news media might like a juicy tip that would get the public all up in arms. There’s nothing reporters like more than to stir up trouble.”
For the second time in a few minutes, his klutzy cutie had shocked Callum. Th
e more he thought about it, the more he realized it was a brilliant idea.
Graham abruptly stood up. He looked at everyone in the room before he said, “That’s an interesting idea, Ryan. I think we’ve taken this about as far as we can. Let’s go see if Elliot has something fun to eat in the kitchen. If I’m not mistaken, I smelled chocolate cake when we walked into the house before.”
Callum could see he wasn’t the only one surprised by Graham’s about-face. But his boss was a wise man with deep connections, and Callum trusted him with his life. So he stood up with the rest of them and left the office to find some cake.
* * * *
Just like people, once in a while, horses have disagreements among themselves. This is especially true when one of the horses goes into heat. Bloodshed is rare, but when the said horse weighs two thousand pounds, sometimes things happen.
Currently, Callum was stitching up a mare’s leg that had come out on the wrong end of a pair of sharp teeth. During breakfast, Callum had received a call from one of the part-time hands about the small ruckus, a breakfast that had already been an adventure thanks to his cutie having a bad day in the accident department.
Callum put the last stitch in the wound and applied some antibacterial medication to it. Callum had the mare tied up to a ring in one of the empty stalls near the back of the barn. It was quiet and offered quite a bit of privacy. Unless you were looking for him, the chances of seeing him back there weren’t very good. This privacy fit his plans perfectly.
A noise from the front of the barn had Callum glancing up. Graham was making his way down the wide barn aisle, stopping to check on different horses that hadn’t been let out of their stalls yet.
By the time Callum had everything cleaned up, Graham was entering the stall Callum was working in. Graham and Tyler hadn’t been at breakfast table this morning. When Callum had asked where they were, Elliot had explained that they had gone to pick up Tyler’s father at the airport. Graham still wore a pair of pressed jeans and a fancy blue-and-white checked shirt. He also had on his dress cowboy hat and boots.
“That doesn’t look too bad,” Graham commented, his gaze on the horse’s newly stitched skin.
“No, just a little tiff between the girls. Patsy will be her easygoing self in a few weeks,” he replied. Callum saw surprise spread over his boss’s face, and then the man covered his laughter with a snort and a cough. Callum kept his face neutral.
Graham started petting Patsy and slipped her a bit of carrot from his pocket.
“Callum?” Graham looked over at him.
“Yes.”
“Do you mind telling me why my office assistant is tied up in the corner of the stall wearing a ball gag?”
“Have you been in the house yet?” Callum asked.
“No, I thought I’d let Tyler have some alone time with his dad. The guy looks a little off. Tyler’s convinced he was doing more than vacationing in Florida. Why, what happened in the house?” Graham asked.
“One tipped over a glass of orange juice that landed in Trace’s lap. One glass of water soaked Steve’s shirt. Oh, by the way, Steve is back, and Stan is letting everyone within hearing know how much he hates it that Steve’s working at the Crazy Angle,” Callum warned, and then continued. “Elliot’s tray full of pancakes ended up in pieces all over the kitchen floor. The pancakes weren’t salvageable, and Stan is threatening to file a complaint officially with you against me.”
“Okay.” Graham drew that one word out to three syllables. “What did you do to Stan?”
“Stan is wearing a neon green feather boa today. We both know how over the top he gets when Steve is around. You’d think being brothers they would get along,” Callum observed. “Anyway, he was walking around the kitchen and it was dragging on the floor. Ryan accidently stepped on the end, and it pulled tight, choking Stan. Elliot was carrying the tray of pancakes and tripped over the tight boa.”
“Is Elliot okay?” Graham asked. Callum could see he was trying hard not to laugh.
“Sure, although he told Stan what he thought about the boa. But Stan was too busy trying to get his breath back from being choked by that damn boa and accusing Ryan of trying to kill him,” Callum continued to explain. This time Graham definitely snorted. But Callum wasn’t finished telling the story. “When everyone calmed down enough to sit at the table and eat what remained of breakfast, Stan kept sputtering about Steve and Ryan and his ripped-up damn boa. Ryan got so nervous, within a few minutes the floor around his chair was littered with silverware and napkins. He then moved on to wiping out the glasses of water and juice.”
“I can feel the finale coming. What happened?” Graham asked. His shoulders were definitely shaking.
“Stan started sniping at Ryan. So I calmly, with my hand around his throat and his pink cowboy-booted feet dangling in the air, told him to shut up.” Callum shrugged his shoulders. “When Adam finally convinced me to let Stan breathe again, I decided to bring Ryan out here to find his center while I stitch up the horse.”
Patsy breathing hard through her nose as she nibbled on some hay was the only sound that could be heard as Graham and Callum looked at each other. In unison, they both broke out laughing.
Callum had to wipe tears from his eyes by the time he finished laughing. He saw that Graham was doing the same. A low growl from the corner caught his attention.
“I’d keep quiet over there, cutie. I can turn you over and redden your ass again if you think you need it,” he offered. He was generous that way.
“I’m going to take Patsy out to the side corral,” Graham said while untying the horse. “I’ll leave you two alone.”
Chapter Eight
Ryan sat on the floor, leaning back against a bale of hay, and tried to decide how he had gotten into his current situation. Never in a million years would he believe he’d be sitting in a barn with his ankles and wrists tied together with multiple shades of green rope. The ropes crisscrossed his body and were tied into intricate knots that formed a pretty design. It would be striking if he were naked, but thank goodness Callum hadn’t stripped him in such a public place.
His ass burned from the spanking Callum had given him, and his asshole had a butt plug shoved in it. The cherry on top of this whole situation was the ball gag in his mouth. No, he had to take that thought back. The cherry was that his boss and lover were laughing at him.
He watched Graham lead Patsy out of the stall. As he shut the stall gate, he called out, “Have fun.” Amid the clip-clop of Patsy’s hooves against the concrete aisle, Graham’s laughter echoed through the barn.
Callum walked over and stood before him. Ryan told himself to ignore how big, muscled, and good-looking the man was. The poop had laughed at him.
“Now don’t pout, cutie. We weren’t laughing at you, we were laughing at what happened back at the ranch house,” Callum said.
Ryan watched Callum spread a blanket over the bale of hay Ryan was leaning against. Firm hands lifted him and helped him to stand. Callum wrapped his arms around Ryan, and a warm tongue traced along the edge of one strap that held the ball gag in place.
“You are so sexy tied up like this,” Callum whispered before his tongue traced the curve of Ryan’s ear.
Ryan couldn’t contain his shiver and bit down on the ball in his mouth. While Callum explored his neck, warm hands caressed Ryan’s back, traveling down until they slipped inside his loose jeans. The rough, work-worn hands created pleasure-pain as they explored his tender, well-spanked bottom.
Callum’s muscled thigh slid between Ryan’s legs. He couldn’t help himself and started humping his aching dick against it. Callum’s mouth latched onto the skin of Ryan’s neck. There was a pinch of pain as Callum sucked hard. After Callum had released the skin, he soothed the sore spot with his tongue.
Without warning, Callum flipped Ryan over and laid him on the blanket-topped bale of hay. The bale was low enough that Callum had to kneel down on his knees. Knowledgeable fingers loosened the ropes on the bot
tom half of Ryan’s body. Next he opened Ryan’s jeans and slid them down his thighs. The cool air caressed the hot skin of Ryan’s ass.
“Your ass is so pretty, I think I’ll redden it every morning,” Callum said as he rubbed Ryan’s throbbing skin.
Ryan almost came when Callum lowered his head and began to lick his ass cheeks. The butt plug was pulled out and shoved back in. Callum was a skilled lover and made sure he hit the plug against Ryan’s sweet spot. Ryan couldn’t stop moaning over and over as Callum continued to assault his prostate, driving him wild.
“I can’t wait. Hold on, this is going to be quick,” Callum bit out.
Ryan heard the crinkle of the condom wrapper accompanied by the click of a plastic cap. The muscles of Ryan’s ass tried to keep the plug inside when Callum pulled it out, causing every nerve to scrape over the hard plastic. He felt empty, and was about to object when Callum’s lubed-up, latex-covered cock shoved into Ryan, filling him up so good.
One of Callum’s hands held Ryan’s hips still as Callum began thrusting into his ass. His other hand reached around and pinched Ryan’s nipple through his T-shirt. The sting triggered Ryan’s orgasm and cum erupted out of Ryan’s cock. The ball gag couldn’t completely muffle his screams of pleasure as Callum kept pounding into him, hitting his prostate every time.
Ready to collapse, Ryan was thrown into another orgasm when Callum dug his fingernails into his other nipple. This time he felt Callum follow him into the land of bliss.
Ryan lay half on the bale of hay with Callum’s big cock still inside him and his body covering him. He heard a snap and the ball gag loosened before Callum pulled it out of his mouth. Small kisses rained over his face. Ryan turned his head, and full lips captured his mouth. Ryan opened his lips to Callum’s demanding tongue. The kiss deepened and Ryan let the big man take everything he wanted. Slowly the kiss ended, and their lips parted.
As Callum untied the ropes, Ryan concentrated on not blurting out what he so desperately wanted to say. He would not ruin the moment or his relationship with Callum by telling the big man that he loved him.
Callum's Love [Men of Crazy Angle Ranch: 5] Page 6
